So I was interviewing Syracuse Crunch enforcer Jon Mirasty after his team walloped Rochester 6-1 on Saturday when he broke in with a question of his own.

"So what do you think about the big, 6-foot-8 giant now?'' he asked.

He was referring, of course, to new Amerks enforcer Riley Emmerson, whom he fought twice. Both bouts had their light-hearted moments.

The first came in the second, with Syracuse ahead 4-0. Emmerson dropped the mitts and was exceedingly polite while Mirasty looked over at Crunch coach Ross Yates to make sure it was OK to fight. Yates didn't seem to say anything, so Mirasty just lunged and then dropped Emmerson with a series of lefts.

"Ross said he didn't want me to really fight,'' Mirasty said. "But I was forced into the issue.''

In the third period, Emmerson, to his credit, asked Mirasty for another dance. Nasty of course, obliged, with a little spice. During an exchange of blows he held Emmerson off and held his right hand up to the crowd, like a matador before goring the bull.

"It's maybe a little too much, but I think the fans enjoy it,'' Mirasty said. "It was a situation where I didn't think he could hit me hard enough to hurt me. But all in all, you have to give the kid credit.''

- Another type of gesture may wind up hurting Syracuse. Defenseman Andrey Plekhanov tangled with Rochester's Tanner Glass in the second. Glass punched Plekhanov in the face; Plekhanov gave the middle finger to Glass.

The AHL rule book calls for an automatic two-game suspension for players who make an obsence gesture like that.

"My brain stopped working,'' Plekhanov said.

"Obviously, it's something you can't do,'' said Syracuse coach Ross Yates. "But in fairness to Andrey, he had no idea it was a game misconduct. Maybe you can do that in Russia.''

- If you're wondering why Crunch defenseman Dan Smith didn't go with Glass in the third, it's because Smith has a bad thumb.

- Speaking of bad thumbs, Crunch forward Tom Sestito is scheduled to get an MRI on his Monday. Saturday, he said he doesn't think it will need surgery, so maybe he won't miss a lot of time.

- I asked Yates if he considered putting rookie goalie Steve Mason in for his first AHL action to start the third, with the Crunch up 5-0.

"No, I don't think that would have been fair to put him in without a warmup,'' Yates said. "I thought a bit about it, but I decided to let him start his first game from the beginning. Plus, Danny (LaCosta) had a shutout.''

One of the Crunch goalies will likely be headed to Columbus soon. Pascal Leclaire left Saturday's game with a sprained ankle.

- So six games into the season, where is the Crunch?

It has beaten a bad team (Rochester) three times by a combined 16-5 margin. That's OK, six points is six points. Syracuse will stay in the North race by virtue of getting the Amerks nine more times alone.

It has beaten a good team (Binghamton) twice, both time overcoming two-goal deficits. Obviously, this speaks well to the team's character.

It has lost badly to a very good team (Hershey) on the road. It's a long season. These things happen.

But now Syracuse begins what could be its hardest road trip of the season, in terms of the overall talent of its four opponents - at Grand Rapids on Wednesday, Rockford on Nov. 1, Chicago on Nov. 2 and Binghamton on Nov. 7.

"We came out wanting to get a good start, and we have'' said Syracuse forward John Vigilante. "We want to go on the road and continue to build and move in the right direction.''